Does Childhood Spanking Cause Adult Mental Disorders?

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Kids could be dealing with the effects of spankings long after the sting wears off. A Canadian study suggests physical punishment raises the risk of developing mental illness as an adult. CBC explains:

“...what we are talking, here, is corporal punishment... things like slapping, hitting, shoving, spanking, and not more severe forms of abuse, whether emotional, physical, or sexual.”

Med Page Today reports researchers at the University of Manitoba conducted the study. They analyzed government survey responses from adults collected in 2004. Those surveyed weren’t in prison or a mental health hospital.

“Adults who reported such punishments in their childhood had a greater risk of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse dependence, and several personality disorders...”

The journal Pediatrics published the study, and HealthDay reports participants were questioned face-to-face...

“...on a scale of ‘never’ to ‘very often,’ how often they were ever pushed, grabbed, shoved, slapped or hit by their parents or another adult living their home. Those who reported ‘sometimes’ or greater were considered as having experienced harsh physical punishment.”

The study attributed two to seven percent of mental disorders to physical discipline, and it tracked about 35,000 adults. But one reader commented on a Babble.com blog and says she’s glad her mom spanked her as a child.

“Children that small are simply too young to reason with. However, a spank is something they do understand.”

But a psychologist tells USA Today just the act of spanking isn’t enough to scar a child for life. He criticizes the study’s dependence on memories from years ago.

“The motivation that the child perceives and when and how and why the parent uses [spanking] makes a big difference. All of that is more important than whether it was used or not...”

HealthDay also reports while the study finds correlation between physical abuse and mental illness, it doesn’t prove one causes the other.